


Unintended Consequences

by CatNerdsOut



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Failed one-shot, Gen, Humor, No Plot/Plotless, Post-Canon, Sarcasm, Space Pirates, Verbal Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatNerdsOut/pseuds/CatNerdsOut
Summary: “Hey, Yon-Rogg,” her mouth curled into a lopsided smile.  “I hear you turned pirate.”
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Yon-Rogg
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. A job is mentioned

**Author's Note:**

> This is complete seat-of-my-pants writing and is 100% CaptainCinderBella’s fault for asking if I could actually see Yon-Rogg as a pirate. :D

“This is outright robbery and these prices!”

Yon-Rogg’s gaze broke away from his crew to look at the man.The merchant had a pinched face further distorted by anger.A bead of sweat collected on the man’s forehead as he continued ranting.This wasn’t the first time someone had tried to squirm out of a deal.Unfortunately the captain had more experience dealing with these sort of situations than the merchant.

Yon-Rogg gestured towards Att-Lass who was overseeing the final crate as it was unloaded from the cargo hold of the _Lethe_.His second officer halted, then turned the hover lift and began pushing the object back up the ramp, back onto the ship.

“What are you doing?”The merchant exclaimed, shock at losing out on the spices overtaking his outrage over the price.

Yon-Rogg answered evenly, affected boredom creeping into his voice, “If you’re not interested, we have other parties willing to buy.”

“Not that cheat, Bok Tarr?”The merchant looked worried and a panicked gleam entered his eye.

Yon-Rogg said nothing for a long moment then shrugged as though the name escaped him.His face was a mask of indifference.Bron-Char stood nearby and bit back a grin.This was a practiced maneuver to allow the client to conjure their own worst possible scenario.All he had to do was stand there and wait.

Att-Lass appeared, descending from the ship’s hull, the accompanying lift empty.He made to load another crate back onto the ship.

“Alright,” the merchant held up his hands in surrender.“I suppose the initial price is fair.And of course, a small finder’s fee on top so you remember where to bring your best goods to.”

The man brought up his communicator and began keying in the codes for the funds transfer.Yon-Rogg inclined his head politely with more civility than he felt.Then he gestured for Bron-Char to join Att-Lass in unloading the cargo.

Yon-Rogg looked around at the other ships docked at the spaceport, grateful for fabric awnings slung across sections of the open air landing pads that provided some degree of protection against the unforgiving sun.The planet was in the habitable zone, but just barely and mostly oceans with narrow strips of land crisscrossing the shallow seas.The result was a hot and humid world with minimal settlements dotting the sparse land masses.Tortuga was the largest of the settlements, a joke from someone who enjoyed history from C-53, or Terra as he had come to learn the wider universe referred to it as.Apparently this Tortuga shared more than just a name with the one from Terra.

Yon-Rogg shook his head to clear his mind.He hated when his thoughts drifted to Terra because it was all to easy for them to slide into memories of Vers.

Vers.The single name could still excite and enrage him.Because of her he had lost everything.His ship.His command.His purpose.All were stripped away by the Supreme Intelligence after he had crawled back to Hala.Korath had seemed pleased by his dismissal, already resolving to transfer to the Accusers in the wake of their failed bombing attempt.Att-Lass balked.Bron-Char said nothing but looked unusually solemn.

A month had passed and Yon-Rogg had wasted away in misery and drink on Hala.No job, no direction, no _Vers_.He signed on with a mercenary company off-world and forwarded his contact information to his two former subordinates as he boarded a transport.

Apparently the two men didn’t take to their new Starforce commander.In short order they were both contacting him looking for work.Att-Lass had felt uncomfortable in the wake of Vers defection, the tales spun about her treachery and malice not matching the woman he knew.Bron-Char said he was just looking for the best fights and thought he would have a better chance of finding them with Yon-Rogg than by remaining with Starforce.

After a decade with the mercenary band, opportunity had presented them with the _Lethe_ , a decent sized ship used by smugglers who were as bad at their craft as locking the ship controls while in port.That was more than two decades prior and since then they had gained a small crew and made the ship their home.

Att-Lass and Bron-Char made their way over to him, taking cover under the limited shade.

“I’ll stay here while they finish loading up,” Att-Lass nodded to the merchant and several of his workers struggling to load the crates onto a shuttle.“Might be awhile,” he added.

Yon-Rogg nodded.“I need to see Caddick about work,” he announced and Bron-Char fell into step alongside him.They may have once been Starforce, but that was no reason to be reckless and wander away from the docks alone.

They picked through the sweltering market to a small dive bar by the slums.The transition from blinding sun to the dark interior always surprised him and he blinked back halos of light as he adjusted to the smoke filled, windowless room.Bron-Char made his way to a corner and stood watching the room while Yon-Rogg made his way to the bar.

“Captain,” Caddick greeted with a nod and a glass of green liquid.“How was that last tip?”

Yon-Rogg saluted him with the drink before downing it.He swallowed a cough as the acidic brew burned its way down his throat.“Very helpful.”

He reached his hand into his pocket and fished out a credit chip, sliding it across the bar.Caddick snatched it up with a wide smile.

“Heard of any other work?”Yon-Rogg asked.

Caddick’s eyes glinted.“As a matter of fact, yes.There’s someone who arrived just yesterday wanting to be smuggled somewhere they’re not supposed to be.”

Yon-Rogg shook his head.“I don’t like smuggling people.Passengers are a nuisance.”

“This once is willing to pay quite a bit, I understand.”

“Where’s the destination?”Yon-Rogg asked.

“Kree Empire, Hala.”

A knot formed in Yon-Rogg’s stomach.He hadn’t returned in years, and while his was a self-imposed exile rather than an enforced one, he very much doubted this potential client could offer enough money or anything else to tempt him to enter Kree space again.

But it seemed they were always low on funds.

“Do you know how much the job’s paying?”He found himself asking.

Caddick shrugged.“Take it up with her.She’s in one of the back rooms down the hall.”

 _She_.

The tightness in his stomach refused to abate.If anything it grew worse.It was a foolish reaction, but still, he felt he was teetering on the precipice of something.

Bron-Char pushed himself off the wall to stride over to the bar.He halted when Yon-Rogg shook his head.No.He had this.Bron-Char settled back against the wall, eyes darting around, alert for any signs of danger.

Yon-Rogg walked down the narrow, dark corridor leading to the rear rooms.With each step his unease grew.He hadn’t survived this long on the outer fringes of civilized space by ignoring his instincts, and right now every one of them was telling him to turn and leave.But he pressed on.A persistent curiosity needled him.He needed to know who this stranger was wanting to be smuggled onto the capital planet of the Kree.With a shaky breath he opened the door.

The room was small and dimly lit, like everything else in the bar.Only a table and chairs and a cloaked figured huddled in one chair.

Yon-Rogg stood framed by the doorway, unable or unwilling to take a step inside.

Dark eyes flashed and the hood fell back revealing a crown of golden hair and an impossibly smirking Vers.

“Hey, Yon-Rogg,” her mouth curled into a lopsided smile.“I hear you turned pirate.”


	2. A deal is struck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, apparently I wasn’t done with this. But this is my safe sandbox to play in while I work through other things that take more effort to write.
> 
> Don’t expect a plot or romance or angst or really anything other than Carol and Yon-Rogg sniping at each other. Don’t even expect updates, though it could happen.

“Hey, Yon-Rogg,” her mouth curled into a lopsided smile.“I hear you turned pirate.”

He said nothing.

“What?No smile?”She asked, her aggravating smirk stretched wide before breaking into a broad grin.

“Of course it would be you,” he said despite himself.Yon-Rogg puffed out a soft laugh, but remained at the entrance crossing his arms and leaning against the frame.

“We should catch up,” she began mildly.

He glared daggers at her.“I very much doubt we could have anything to say to one another.”

Her eyes rose to meet his challenge.He could almost hear her thinking, ‘we’ll see about that.’

“Pull up a seat, _Captain_ ,” she emphasized the title with a teasing lilt and flicked her hand towards seat opposite.“I’ve got a business proposition for you.”

Reluctantly, he moved to obey.

“Just think,” she said as he crossed to the waiting chair, “all these years later and we’re finally the same rank.”If possible, her smile split wider.

“So should I call you Vers or Captain Marvel now?”He tried his best to sound bored but only succeeded in sounding hesitant.

“Carol’s fine.”

That would take some getting used to, he thought.And besides, Yon-Rogg wasn’t sure he wanted to get used to it.The decades since had been difficult, but were a mere inconvenience when compared to the devastation she left in her wake upon her departure from his life.

“I need a ship to sneak me past Hala’s orbital defense system.”

He pushed back from the table, stunned,“Why would you want someone to smuggle you to Hala?”

“I’ve got a computer to unplug.”Her tone was even, her stare cold.

He shook his head.“You must be joking.”

She looked at him, silent.

“That was over forty years ago,” he continued to protest.

“I was going to take care of the Supreme Intelligence about a decade ago, then there was all that mess with Thanos.”

She nodded towards him as if it were a shared experience.But all he remembered was a feeling of intense nausea before his vision went dark.The same for Bron-Char.Att-Lass still didn’t speak of the intervening years between dust and rebirth.Yon-Rogg couldn’t blame him.From what he had heard the fallout was intense and brutal for all those left.But those were personal details known by friends, not to be shared with a stranger wearing an old friend’s face.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I thought after all that, maybe the Kree would stop and the universal conquest thing.But same old Kree.Same old Intelligence.”

Her voice had taken on a somber, almost sad quality.To Yon-Rogg it sounded almost as though she regretted her planned course of action, despite her obvious belief in the necessity of it. But he had tried and failed to circumvent her reckless endeavors before.He wouldn’t make the mistake of trying again.He just needed to be clear of the blast radius.And besides...

“How much is the job?”

“Three hundred thousand now, another three hundred thousand when we land on Hala.”

“Six hundred?I can make five hundred just running spice past the embargo on Cotan IV.”He could earn just over four hundred thousand and it was a bit more complicated than that with the bribes to the port officials, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Fine,” she huffed, “four hundred each way sound good? And I’ll owe you a favor.”

“The last time you did me a favor, I nearly ended up dead,” he said dryly.

“ _That_ was the favor.”

His lips quirked in a slight answering smile.“Are we waiting to get you off-world after?”

She laughed.“No.I only need to sneak in before I off the Supreme Intelligence.After, I can get myself out.”

“Why do you need transport at all?Can’t you just-” he made a whooshing gesture with his hands.

Vers...Carol gave him a withering look.“I don’t want to alert every member of the Kree military that I’m there.The Supreme Intelligence would throw every one of them in my path to stop me.My issue is with your leader, not your people.”

“I’d barely call them my leader or my people at this point.”

Something in his tone must have betrayed how bitter he still felt about it because a look of sympathy washed over her face.“What happened when you returned?”

“Nothing that you should concern yourself with,” he answered brusquely. 

She didn’t need to to know about his torture at the hands of the Supreme Intelligence, about the hours that seemed like years as he felt every nerve set on fire.She didn’t need to know about the nightmares that still chased him in the night.

She frowned but surprisingly didn’t protest.

He returned to the matter at hand.“If I agree to ferry you, which I am not certain I will, I have a few conditions.”

“This should be good,” she muttered.

“First, we take a legitimate commission to transport goods to Hala.Even if my crew and I have no desire to return to the empire, we have less desire to deal with the port authorities without the protection of taking a job for one of the merchant guilds.”

She caught on a detail he wished she hadn’t.“Your crew?What do they have against going to Hala?Are they all Kree?”

“Some are,” he continued, glossing over the specifics that she would undoubtedly find relevant.“Second, we need to alter the ship logs.The ship’s current name is unwelcome in Kree space.”

She laughed with an indelicate snort before agreeing to his conditions.

He thought.Eight hundred thousand minus fuel and false registry information would still net a healthy profit.His fifteen percent would go a long way towards buying citizenship in some distant empire where he could live out his days in peace and forget his life as commander of Starforce.

“I think we have a deal,” he spoke at length.

“Great!” She launched up from her chair.“When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow.Currently my XO is overseeing restocking the ship.”

“I hope he doesn’t have a stick up his ass like Korath did,” she mused.

She was in for a surprise.

“Wait here, one of my crew is in the main room.”

Yon-Rogg escaped down the corridor to find Bron-Char.“We’ve acquired a passenger,” he said lowly.

Bron-Char’s eyes narrowed slightly, the obvious question etched on his face.

“Come back and meet them, I don’t want a scene in the main room.”

That captured Bron-Char’s curiosity if nothing else.Wordlessly he turned to follow Yon-Rogg down the corridor.

It took the man a minute hovering in the doorway as his mind fumbled to make sense of the person before him.Then Bron-Char laughed loudly, clapping his hands on Carol’s shoulders in a rough though good-natured greeting.With the two of them chattering, the three made their way to the ship.

“Plot a course for Virgon Company’s nearest corporate office into the navigational computer,” he directed Bron-Char as they stepped onto the bridge.“I want to be ready to go as soon as they finish filling the tanks.And since we need the registration changed, we’ll be making a stop over to see Gailan.”

“Should I pick up a few crate of dragon’s tears that we can sell while we’re there?Customs officers there haven’t found the starboard hatch,” Bron-Char inquired.

“But you smuggle drugs?”Carol looked horrified.

“We also plunder cargo from other ships,” Bron-Char beamed.“We have three letters of marque from various governments.”

Carol turned from Bron-Char to focus her rage at Yon-Rogg.

He stared back at her coldly.“It must be thrilling to cling so tightly to your principles.Unfortunately the application of yours has prevented the exercise of mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“He means that when you turned your back on your team, the captain here paid the price for it,” Att-Lass chose that moment to stride into the room.

Yon-Rogg held onto a secret smile, unwilling to let it burst forth.This was perfect.Not only had Att-Lass completely disarmed her by his sudden appearance, she was clearly grappling with disappointment at not receiving the same warm welcome she had from Bron-Char.

Good.She needed to realize not everything revolved around her and what she wanted.Even for eight hundred thousand.

“Well,” Bron-Char reflected as he looked from their new passenger wearing a chastened expression to the scowling faces of his captain and XO, “this should be an exciting trip.”


End file.
